Armored car (valuables)

A common meaning of armored car (or armored cash transport car, security van) is an armored van or truck, used in transporting valuables, such as large quantities of money (especially for banks or retail companies). The armored car is a multifunctional vehicle designed to protect and ensure the well being of the transported individuals and/or contents. The armored car is completely bullet proof and can withstand extreme degrees of heat. The car is mostly utilized by the military, but many companies such as Mercedes, Lexus, Toyota, Cadillac, Audi, and BMW have created armored cars for civilian use, usually to protect valuables and dignitaries. Armored cars have an armored shell and cab, and typically are customized on a basic van or truck chassis. These vehicles are designed to resist attempts at robbery and hijacking. Bullet-resistant glass and reinforced shells and cabs are designed to resist bullets from most handguns and rifles. They may or may not be manned by armed guards. Such armored cars are usually operated by security firms, and are therefore often referred to as "security vans"..

The idea of the armored vehicle dates back to Leonardo da Vinci's sketches of an armored war vehicle, in 1485. It consisted of a circular platform on four wheels with light cannons arranged facing out. This design, however, proved to be flawed. An early form of armored transportation for valuables that actually went into production, were the "ironclad" treasure wagons designed by the Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage Company during the American Old West. Back then, a platoon of soldiers and cavalrymen were used to transport valuables such as gold safely in the lawless frontier. They were not always successful in escorting their valuables and some robbers manage to hold up and rob these transports, such as what happened in the Wham Paymaster robbery and the Skeleton Canyon massacres. In Deadwood, the Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage Company suffered robberies in the criminal-infested Deadwood to Cheyenne trail that also resulted in the death of one of their shotgun messengers named Johnny Slaughter. In order to deter bandits and prevent future robberies, the Stage Company built two steel-plated treasure coaches named Slaughter (after the former shotgun messenger) and Monitor (after the famous USS Monitor in the Civil War). The stagecoaches have 5/16th-inches thick steel plates, portholes for guards to shoot from, and inside of each coach was a strongbox with walls three inches thick that was bolted to the floor, and was said to be able to resist assaults for 24 hours. Although the stage coaches were impenetrable, they still left its driver and shotgun messenger unprotected. On September 26, 1878, the Monitor was attacked Charles Carey Gang as it left Deadwood. The gang killed one of the passengers, stopped the carriage and hauled up over $27,000 worth of gold and valuables.

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